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N ADDRESS ON COAL 


BY 


MR. [OHN H. jONES 

PRESIDENT PITTSBURG - BUEFAEO COMPANY 

DELIVERED BEFORE THE 

Pennsylvania State Editorial Association 

ON THE OCCASION OF THEIR 

THIRTY-THIRD ANNUAL CONVENTION 
Pittsburg, Pennsylvania 
Sept. 27th, 1905 


The Merchants and Manufacturers Association 
Entertaining 


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COMPLIMENTS OF 


Merchants and Manufacturers Association of Pittsburg, Pa. 




















OLD KING COAL 


An address on coal, with added statistics, 

by 

MR. JOHN H. JONES 

>1 

President Pittsburg-Buffalo Company 
delivered before the 


Pennsylvania State Editorial Association 

Pittsburg 


0 > 

> > 


September 27, 1905 


R E PR ES ENTING 

Merchants mb Manufacturers Assnciatum 



E. J. Lloyd 
President 


Otto Felix 

Chairman Finance Committee 




John Hazlett 

Chairman Reception Com. 


J. G. Stephenson 
Chairman Convention Com. 



R. L. Mitchell 

Chairman Com. on Publicity 


J. W. Wardrop 
Sec’y and Gen’l Manager 









JOHN H. JONES, 

President Pittsburg-Buffalo Company. 






OFFICERS OF THE 


llrmtayluauia §>tatr Editorial Assuiriatiim 



T. H. Harter. 
1st Vice President 


M. L. McQuown, 
2nd Vice President 





Hon. A. Nevin Pomeroy 
President 



Hon. J. W. Carson, 
3rd Vice President 



R. P. Hapgood 
Secretary-Treasurer 




















Hon. Chas. Emory Smith 


Hon. John Dalzell 




John H. Jones 


Hon. James Francis Burke 


Arthur G. Burgoyne 


J. W. Wardrop 












Speakers arid Toasts 

banquet tendered to tke Pennsylvania State Editorial Association 
the Merchants and Manufacturers Association, Pittsburg 
September 27 , 1905 


Toastmaster 

HON. JAMES FRANCIS BURKE 

Member of Congress 

ell 

Introduction of Toastmaster 
JAMES W. WARDROP 

Secretary and General Manager M. & M. Association 



“Our City and It’s Welcome” 
HON. JAMES FRANCIS BURKE 

Member of Congress 


“Old King Coal” 
JOHN H. JONES 

President Pittsburg-Buffalo Company 


“The Press Club” 
ARTHUR G. BURGOYNE 

“All Sorts Man” 

Tittsburg Leader 


“Pennsylvania and Pittsburgh” 
HON. JOHN DALZELL 

Member of Congress 


“Our State Editors” 

HON. CHARLES EMORY SMITH 

Ex-Postmaster General 



Address of Mr. John H. Jones 


Mr. Toastmaster, Ladies and Gentlemen—Onr Honored 

Guests: 

I consider the privilege of addressing yon to-night a 
great honor, and I wish to add my hearty welcome to that 
of the gentleman who has spoken before me. 

My first impression of a newspaper man was that he 
was one of those shrewd fellows, endowed with Sher¬ 
lock Holmes abilities, who would fly through space, enter 
second-story windows or in some mysterious manner 
gain an entrance to the presence of the individual or to 
the meeting, secrete himself in the rafters of the audi¬ 
torium or niche of the sacred hall, and in this way learn 
our every secret and send them broadcast into the world. 

I thought the more cunning the reporter or news 
gatherer the greater his value and his remuneration. But 
on becoming better acquainted with this mysterious indi¬ 
vidual, I found him to be somewhat on the mortal order, 
like the rest of us; a person in whom you could place the 
most implicit confidence and not fear a betrayal; a man 
whose business and moral standard was such that when 
he entered your office and asked you about any projected 
business proposition in which the public had an interest, 
or which was of a semi-public nature, and about your 
connection therewith, you could freely discuss the sub¬ 
ject with him, and depend upon it that nothing but what 
you wished made public property would appear on the 
front page of the next issue of his paper in bold type. 

The press is a great power, especially in this country. 
It is due to the excellent organization, the splendid judg¬ 
ment and the great tact displayed on the part of editors 
and their staffs, combined with good business manage¬ 
ment, that our press is to-day of such a high standard. I 
do not hesitate to say to you that many of my good friends 


8 



are newspaper men, and I am glad of this opportunity to 
increase the number and to extend to you a warm and 
hearty welcome to the greatest manufacturing city of the 
world—a kingdom governed by Old King Coal and his 
able consort, Queen Iron Ore. 

I have been requested to say a few words to you to¬ 
night about coal. In making an attempt to do this, I 
have a full realization of the Herculean task, and feel my 
inability to do justice, in a few words, to such a sub¬ 
ject. However, with your forbearance, I will present to 
you a few facts about coal, its origin, its areas, its va¬ 
rieties, how it was and is mined, its production, transpor¬ 
tation and consumption, and incidentally a few words 
about Pittsburg and prosperity. In speaking of Pitts¬ 
burg we are, of course, speaking about coal, for what 
would Pittsburg be without its enormous coal deposits? 
In presenting this subject, I shall occupy but a few min¬ 
utes of your time, as other gentlemen of eloquence are to 
follow me and to delight your ears with more poetic 
subjects. 

Origin of Coal. 

What is coal? Some one has said that “Coal is con¬ 
densed, embodied, solidified sunlight, and nothing else.” 
Suppose we accept this definition. 

Eminent geologists advance two theories for the 
source of coal: 

(1) Coal was formed on the spot where the forest 
grew. 

(2) Coal was the result of accumulated drift. 

All agree, however, that it is the result of the decom¬ 
position of vegetable matter. The theory most generally 
accepted is the former, or a combination of both, although 
it is perfectly clear, that in a few instances, areas of coal 
have been formed by organic matter drifted into lakes. 

Le Conte, speaking of peat, the first state of coal, 
says: “Plants take the greater portion of their food from 


9 


the air, and give it by the annual fall of leaf and finally 
by their own death, to the soil. This substance would 
increase without limit were it not that its decay goes on 
simultaneously with its formation. But in peat bogs and 
swamps, the excess of water and still more the antiseptic 
property of the air itself prevent complete decay. Thus 
each generation takes from the air and adds to the soil 
continually and without limit. The soil which is made 
up entirely of its ancestral accumulation continues to rise 
year by year until the bog often becomes higher than the 
surrounding country, and when swollen by unusual rains, 
bursts and floods the country with black mud. 

A bog is therefore composed of the vegetable matter 
of thousands of generations of plants. It represents so 
much matter drawn from the atmosphere and added to 
the soil. In such cases, besides the material deposited 
from the growth of vegetation, the accumulation may be 
partly also the result of organic matter drifted from the 
surrounding surface soil. Peat is disintegrated and par¬ 
tially decomposed matter composed of carbon, with small 
and variable quantities of hydrogen, oxygen and nitro¬ 
gen/’ 

Dana says: “There is no reason to suppose that 
vegetation was confined to the lower lands. It probably 
spread over the whole continent (American continent) to 
its utmost northern limits. It formed coal only when 
there were marshes and where the deposits of vegetable 
debris afterwards became covered by deposits of sand, 
clay or other rock material. 

The theory that coal has been accumulated by 
growth of vegetation in situ (in its original situation), as 
in peat swamps of the present day is supported by the 
purity of the coal, in some coal fields of America the ash 
not being greater than would result from the plants of 
which it is composed. In extensive peat swamps abso¬ 
lutely pure vegetable accumulations unmixed with sedi¬ 
ment occur, but in buried rafts of drifted vegetable matter 


10 


of any kind there must be a large admixture of mud. The 
theory is further supported by the most complex and deli¬ 
cate parts of the plants in their natural relation to each 
other being preserved. 

Again, we find these perfect specimens only in the 
upper part of the seam, as would be the case with the 
last fallen leaves. In drifted matter, they would be pro¬ 
miscuously mixed throughout the seam. The presence of 
stumps with their spreading roots penetrating the under¬ 
clay exactly as they grew, is a very good argument in be¬ 
half of the in situ theory. The underclay of every one of 
the one hundred seams of coal in South Wales is crowded 
with roots and sometimes stumps. Of the seventy-six 
seams in Nova Scotia twenty have stumps standing in 
their original positions with spreading roots penetrating 
the clay. The other seams have each its underclay filled 
with stigmaria roots. 

Varieties of Coal. 

The varieties of coal depend upon the degree of 
bituminization, upon the proportion of volatile matter 
and upon the purity. Le Conte says: “Coal consists 
partly of organic or combustible matter, and partly of 
inorganic or incombustible matter.” 

On burning coal the organic, combustible matter is 
consumed and passes away in the form of gas, while the 
inorganic, incombustible matter is left as ash. The rela¬ 
tive proportions of these vary to a great extent. We may 
have a coal of only 2 per cent ash, or we may have a coal 
•of 5, 10 or even 50 per cent ash. The higher the ash the 
poorer the coal. 

The average ash contained in first-class Pittsburg 
coal runs from 3 to 5 per cent. High moisture coal and 
coal containing 10 to 20 per cent or more of ash are used 
at points where the freight rate bars the shipment of first- 
class coals and are used for steam purposes under circum¬ 
stances where the disposition of an excessive amount of 


11 


refuse justifies their use and they can be purchased at a 
lower price than the high-class coals. 

Analyses of Coal. 

The following are analyses of different coals: 



Gas 

Domestic 

Steam 

Cheaper 

Pittsburg 

West 

Virginia 

Indiana 

Couuells- 

ville 

Coking 

Coal 

Fixed Carton . 

61.13 

60.00 

57.21 

47.24 

49.58 

51.02 

61.47 

Volatile Mailer 

34.22 

35.00 

35.65 

39.15 

39.18 

40.14 

30.80 

Snlpmir . . . 

.97 

.60 

.88 

2.90 

1:90 

2.25 

1.20 

Ask. 

3.43 

3.74 

4.53 

11.59 

5.65 

5.64 

6.24 

Moisture . . . 

1.22 

.60 

1.72 

2.02 

5.83 

6.42 

.76 


We have six distinct Coal Fields, or Areas, in the 
United States: 


Areas. 


The Western Coal Field, or the Western Interior 
Area, is the largest area of coal lands in the United 
States. This field covers a large portion of Missouri and 
extends north into Iowa, and south, with interruptions,, 
through Arkansas and Indian Territory into Texas, and 
west into Kansas and Nebraska. The Illinois and Mis¬ 
souri areas are connected only through the sub-carbon¬ 
iferous rocks of the carboniferous age. But it is probable 
that formerly the coal fields stretched across the channel 
of the Mississippi and that the present separation is due 
to erosion along the valley. The area of this coal field is 
98,000 square miles. 

The Central Coal Field, sometimes called the Eastern 
Interior Coal Field, comprises Illinois, Indiana and West¬ 
ern Kentucky and covers an area of 47,000 square miles. 

The Michigan or Interior Coal Field, an isolated area 
wholly contained within the lower peninsula of Michigan, 
contains an area of 6,700 square miles. 

The Rhode Island Coal Field contains 500 square- 
miles. 


12 



















The Alaskan Coal Field has not yet been definitely 
defined and is a comparatively small area. 

The Coal Field that we are particularly interested in 
this evening- is the Appalachian, or Allegheny area. It 
commences in Northeastern Pennsylvania and covers the 
whole area of Pennsylvania, Eastern Ohio, a large por¬ 
tion of Virginia, West Virginia and Eastern Kentucky, 
passes southward through Eastern Tennessee and North- x 
western Georgia and ends in Middle Alabama, having an 
area of 50,000 square miles. The Pittsburg District is 
embraced in this area, which is the most important coal 
field in the world. 

Old and New Methods of Mining. 

Prior to 1885 many mines were worked in a very 
crude manner. Mine foremen were not as well educated 
as they are to-day nor as well posted in the management 
of coal properties. Mines that produced 300 tons per day 
were the exception and not the rule. I remember an in¬ 
stance in 1878 where a number of miners and others 
wished to lease a mine. The owner of the property 
wanted them to agree to take out a minimum of forty 
thousand tons annually, but they were afraid to agree to 
produce this amount of coal and finally arranged upon a 
basis of ten thousand tons a year. But wonderful prog¬ 
ress has been made during the past few years; mines 
have been equipped, recently, capable of producing in ex¬ 
cess of six thousand tons per day. There is a single mine 
in the Pittsburg District which, if the present ratio of 
production is maintained, will produce during this year 
in excess of 1,500,000 tons of coal over one tipple and 
from one opening, or more bituminous coal than was pro¬ 
duced in the entire State of Pennsylvania in 1850. In 
1885 the Pennsylvania Legislature passed a mining law 
making it incumbent upon the operators of mines to em¬ 
ploy what is known as the “certificated” mine foreman 
and fire boss, whose duties are, first, to see that the min- 


13 


ing laws are fully complied with, and, second, to see that 
the mines are operated in the most economical manner 
and coal produced at a minimum cost. 

Owing to the installation of modern machinery, such 
as electric and pneumatic mining machines and locomo¬ 
tives, requiring great skill and care for their operation 
and maintenance, mine managers and foremen should 
have a technical and mechanical education as well as 
long practical experience in mining. Most of our mine 
foremen are being educated along these lines. 

The Miner’s Opportunity. 

When we take into considration the fact that twenty- 
five years ago from five thousand to twenty thousand dol¬ 
lars was the prevailing amount expended in the develop¬ 
ment of a coal mine with a capacity of fifteen thousand to 
thirty thousand tons per annum, and that to-day it costs 
from two hundred and fifty thousand to one million dol¬ 
lars to equip one of our modern mines, and that they are 
now capable of producing from five hundred thousand to 
one and a half million tons of coal per annum, you can 
readily see why it is necessary for mine foremen and 
managers to take advantage of every opportunity to im¬ 
prove their education so they may be enabled to equip 
and operate such large enterprises to the best advantage. 
With the opportunity of attending our excellent night 
schools, as well as the advantages to be derived from a 
technical course in a school of correspondence, it is possi¬ 
ble for a miner, whatever his early education may have 
been, who has executive ability and untiring application, 
to fit himself within a comparatively short time to hold a 
position which will pay him from three thousand to ten 
thousand dollars per year, or even more, and this without 
interfering with his occupation as a miner or employe in 
and around a coal mine. It is within the power of you 
newspaper men to encourage these men to improve their 
condition, and I know you will do it. 


14 


Classes of Mines. 


There are three classes of mines, namely: Drift, 
slope and shaft. In the drift mine, the entries are driven 
into the side of the hill. Slope mines are opened through 
the rock at an angle of twenty to thirty degrees, where 
the coal lies not more than ioo feet below the surface at 
the opening, and in the most modern mines, coal is taken 
from the foot of these slopes and delivered on the tipple 
by an automatic chain haul. In shaft mines the openings 
are made in a vertical manner through the strata until 
they reach the coal, which is hoisted perpendicularly on 
cages and delivered on the tipple. 

To operate modern coal mines wherein fire damp is 
generated, requires a mine foreman, whose duties have al¬ 
ready been stated. It also requires fire bosses, whose 
duties are to make an examination of the mine each and 
every morning, so there will be no possible element of 
danger from fire damp having gathered over night. These 
fire bosses must report to the mine foreman each morn¬ 
ing, and in a book, kept at the mouth of the mine, must 
make a record of their report showing the condition of 
each and every chamber in the mine before the miners are 
permitted to enter, and not to exceed three hours in ad¬ 
vance of the time the miners go to work. After making 
this examination and report in the morning, fire bosses 
assist the mine foreman in keeping the ventilation good 
at the face of all workings, and perform other duties as¬ 
signed them. 

Employes. 

The contract employes at a mine represent the ma¬ 
chine runners and miners, the work of the machine run¬ 
ners being to see that the coal is undercut properly, so 
that the miners can shoot it down and load it into cars. 

The duty of the track layers is indicated by their 
name, and of the inside laborers is to assist the track lay¬ 
ers and to keep the mine timbered, clear of any refuse, 


15 


and perform other duties assigned them by the mine fore¬ 
man or his assistants. 

In mines where the water collects, it is the duty of 
the pumpers, or water boys, to see that the water is taken 
from each chamber in the mine, that the miners may not 
be hampered or restricted in their duties. 

In a mine operated by electricity, wiremen are em¬ 
ployed to see that the wires are kept close to the face of 
the different workings. It is also necessary to have a ma¬ 
chine boss or repairman, or perhaps a number of them, to 
keep mining machines and locomotives in first-class con¬ 
dition. Motormen and brakemen operate the locomotives 
and take empty cars into the mine and return the loaded 
cars to the bottom of the slope, shaft or tipple. 

After coal is delivered at the tipple, dumpers, weigh- 
masters and helpers are required to dump and screen the 
coal properly for market, and men under the tipple to 
level up the loading and remove all the impurities and 
also to push away the loaded cars and replace them with 
empty ones. Carpenters are employed to keep tipples, 
wagons, buildings, etc., in repair, and blacksmiths to 
sharpen miners’ tools and machine bits, in addition to 
sundry other labor in and around the mine. To this list 
must be added the wages of shipping clerks and book¬ 
keepers, the expense of timber and supplies used at the 
mines, loss through depreciation, and a certain amount of 
royalty charged off to represent the coal exhausted. So 
you will see, ladies and gentlemen, that there are a great 
many things which enter into the expense of mining coal 
other than the amount paid to the miner under contract, 
whose labor represents only 60 per cent of the total cost. 

Wage Agreements. 

During the past ten years the rate paid for mining 
bituminous coal has been settled by an interstate agree¬ 
ment between miners and operators of the States of Ohio, 
Indiana, Illinois and the Pittsburg District of Pennsyl- 


16 


vania, the miners dealing through and being represented 
by the officers of the United Mine Workers of 
America, and the operators being represented bv 
a committee selected from among themselves. After 
committees have agreed upon prices to be paid 
under contract, such agreements have alwavs been 
referred to a convention of operators and miners 
for ratification. The last contract between the 
•operators and miners was concluded during February, 
1904—effective April 1, 1904—and terminates April 1, 
1906. These agreements are also used as a basis for set¬ 
tlement of wage scales in other districts and States where 
. union labor is employed. 

Statistics of Production. 

The world’s production of coal in 1880 was about 
370,000,000 tons; that of the United States over 71,000,000 
tons, or 20 per cent of the whole. Ten years later, in 
1890, the world’s production had increased to 563,000,000 
tons, and that of our own country to 158,000,000 tons, or 
28 per cent of the whole. At the expiration of another ten 
years, the production of the United States had grown to 
270.000,000 tons, this being nearly 32 per cent of the 
world’s output, which then amounted to 846,000,000 tons. 

The following statement gives the world’s production 
of coal from the year 1880 to and including the year 1904: 


17 


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Estimate for 1905. 

Figures based on reliable information indicate that 
the world’s output for 1905 will exceed 1,000,000,000 tons, 
of which the United States will produce 390,000,000 tons, 
or 39 per cent. This shows that the production of the 
United States for this year will exceed what was the en¬ 
tire output of the world in 1880, or an increase of five and 
a half times during the past twenty-five years. If this 
ratio of increase continues for the next twenty-five years, 
and I know of no reason why it should not, the coal pro¬ 
duction of the United States for 1930 will reach the enor¬ 
mous output of more than 2,000,000,000 tons, or double 
the world's production for the present year. 

Pennsylvania. 

Statistics of the State of Pennsylvania are sufficient 
to bring out in bold relief the magnitude of our coal in- 
dustry and its prospective growth. Flere is a statement 
of the coal production of this State for the past twenty- 
five years, treating the anthracite and bituminous sepa¬ 
rately : 

Statement showing coal production of Pennsylvania, total 
of UnitedState s and per cent of Pennsylvania to .total produc¬ 
tion from 1880 to 1904: 


Year 

Pennsylvania 

Anthracite 

Pennsylvania 

Bituminous 

Total of 
Pennsylvania 

Total of 
United States 

Per cent, 
of Penna. 
to Total 

1880 

28,649,812 

18,425,163 

47,529,711 

71,481,569 

66 

l88l 

31,920,018 

22,400,000 

54,320,018 

85,881,030 

63 

1882 

35,121,256 

24,640,000 

57,254,507 

103,285,789 

55 

1883 

38,456,845 

26,880,000 

62,488,190 

115,212,125 

54 

1884 

37,156,847 

28,000,000 

62,404,488 

119,735,051 

52 

1885 

38.335,974 

26,000,000 

62,137,271 

110,957,522 

56 

1886 

39.035,446 

27,094,501 

62,857,210 

112,743,403 

56 

1887 

42,088,197 

31,516,856 

70,372,857 

129,975,557 

54 

1888 

46,619,564 

33,796,727 

77,719,624 

148,659,402 

5 2 

1889 

45-546,97° 

36,174,089 

81,719,059 

141,229,514 

58 

1890 

46,468,641 

42,302,173 

88,770,814 

157,788,657 

56 


19 

















Year 

Pennsylvania 

Anthracite 

Pennsylvania 

Bituminous 

Total of 
Pennsylvania 

Total of 
United States 

Per cent, 
of Penna. 
to Total 

1891 

50,665,431 

42,788,490 

93453,921 

168,566,668 

55 

1892 

| 52,472,504 

46,694,576 

99,167,080 

179,329,071 

55 

1893 

53,967,543 

44,070,724 

98,038,267 

182,352,774 

54 

1894 

51,921,121 

39,912,463 

9 1 ,833,584 

1 70,741,526 

54 

!895 

57,999,337 

50,217,228 

108,216,565 

193417,530 

56 

I896 

54,346,081 

49,557453 

103,903,534 

191,986,357 

54 

1897 

52,611,68o 

54,417,974 

107,029,654 

200,223,665 

53 

I898 

53,382,644 

65,165,133 

h 8,547,777 

219,976,267 

54 

1899 

60,418,005 

74,150,175 

134,568,180 

253,741492 

53 

1900 

57,367,9! 5 

79,842,326 

137,210,241 

269,684,027 

51 

1901 

67,471,667 

82,305,946 

I 49,777,6i3 

293,299,816 

5i 

1902 

41,373,595 

98,574,367 

1 39,947,962 

301,582,348 

46 

I 9°3 

74,607,068 

103,117,178 

1 77,724,246 

357,356,4,6 

49-7 

1904 

73,156,709 

97,952,267 

171,108,976 

352,310,427 

49 


As this statement will show, and as probably most of 
yon gentlemen know, the State of Pennsylvania stands 
pre-eminently at the head of the list of coal-producing 
States, having for the past twenty-five years contributed 
more than 50 per cent of the total coal product of the en¬ 
tire country, of which fact we Pittsburgers are naturally 
proud. In the period named the production of bituminous 
coal in this State' has increased more than 50 per cent, 
while the production of anthracite has increased 25 per 
cent. 


Anthracite Coal. 

The anthracite production in the State of Pennsyl¬ 
vania in 1880 was 28,000,000 tons, while its production of 
bituminous coal was only 18,000,000 tons. Ten years later 
our production of anthracite was 46,000,000 tons, and the 
bituminous output 42,000,000 tons, or only 4,000,000 tons 
below the output of anthracite. In 1900 our anthracite 
product was 57,000,000 tons and the bituminous 80,000,000 
tons, showing a difference of 23,000,000 tons in favor of 
the soft coal production. 


20 























At the present time Pennsylvania is producing at the 
rate of 75,000,000 tons of anthracite and over 100,000,000 
tons of bituminous coal a year, while only nine years ago, 
or in 1897, the production of anthracite and bituminous in 
the State was equal, being something over 50,000,000 tons 
of each. 

The production of the Pittsburg District for 1905 
will amount to 42,000,000 tons. If the present ratio of in¬ 
crease continues, there will be mined in the Pittsburg 
District during the next twenty years 1,758,000,000 tons, 
which, figuring a yield of 7,000 tons per acre, will exhaust 
251,143 acres of coal. 

Diminishing Acreage. 

The production of the present time and this prophecy 
for the future serve to emphasize what has been, what is 
and what will be the keynote of the prosperity of the 
Pittsburg District. As one-half of the coal produced in 
this district is consumed in and around Pittsburg, the 
figures here given will furnish some idea of the magni¬ 
tude of the industries of this great city. Such figures 
also lead us to stop and think of the exhaustion of our 
coal beds, which are generally accepted as being inex¬ 
haustible and equal to any demands we may make upon 
them for all time. 

Exports Small. 

The prosperity of our great national industries as 
well as much of our domestic comfort depends upon the 
continuance of an abundant supply of cheap fuel, which 
is coal. The vast increases in our production from year to 
year are only made possible by the country’s constant 
commercial, industrial and agricultural growth, and our 
increasing production of coal during the past decade has 
simply kept pace with the progress and development of 
our country. Notwithstanding this stupendous increase 
in production, far greater than that of any other nation, 


21 


our growth has been such as to consume, at home, prac¬ 
tically all the coal we have produced. Of our enormous 
production, we export only a little over 2 per cent. This 
small percentage includes the large shipments of coal 
made to Canada, to which point most of our export coal is 
shipped. 

Our Great Consumers. 

Our railroads, iron and steel mills and manufactories 
are our greatest consumers of coal. The fuel bill of the 
Pennsylvania Railroad and its subsidiary lines in 1903 
was upwards of $18,000,000. Our domestic consumption 
is already large and ever increasing. Aside from the 
great quantities consumed direct by our iron and steel 
mills and factories, our blast furnaces and foundries use 
our immense product of coke, for the manufacture of 
which 40,000,000 tons of coal are required annually. 


Coke. 

I have endeavored to show the position the State of 
Pennsylvania holds among the coal-producing States of 
the country. In the manufacture of coke our State holds 
relatively a still more prominent position, with nearly 50 
per cent of the total production, and of this amount the 
famous Connellsville Region of Fayette and Westmore¬ 
land counties contributes 60 per cent. If we add the out¬ 
put of the Upper Connellsville Region and the “Klon¬ 
dike,” or Lower Connellsville fields, this district is found 
to produce over 80 per cent of the entire production of the 
State or 40 per cent of the total output of the country. 
There is a general impression that the Connellsville 
Region is a part of and included in the Pittsburg Dis¬ 
trict. This is not the case, and in considering the sta¬ 
tistics given it should be borne in mind, in order that 
the figures may be thoroughly and intelligently under¬ 
stood. 


22 


1 have before me a table showing the manufacture of 
coke in the United States, and one showing the coke pro¬ 
duced in the Connellsville Region, covering the last 
twenty-five years. The manufacture of coke in the 
United States in 1880 amounted to 3,338,300 tons; in 1890 
it had increased to 11,500,000 tons, in 1900 to 20,000,000 
tons, while at the present time we are manufacturing in 
excess of 25,000,000 tons of coke annually, requiring about 
40,000,000 tons of coal yearly for its manufacture. When 
we look at these figures, we can form some idea of the 
importance of the coking industry of the Connellsville 
Region. 


MANUFACTURE OF COKE IN THE UNITED STATES 

1880-1904. 


Year 

Short Tons 
Coal Used 

Short Tons 
Coke Pro¬ 
duced 

Total Values 
of Coke at 
Ovens 

Value of 
Coke at Ovens 
Per Ton 

Yield of 
Coal in 
Coke 

1880 

5,237,74]; 

3,338,300 

$6,631,267 

$1 

•99 

63 

% 

l88l 

6,546,662 

4,113,760 

7>725T75 

I 

.88 

63 

% 

1882 

7.577.648 

4T93U2I 

8,462,167 

I 

•77 

63 

% 

1883 

8,516,670 

5,464,721 

8,121,607 

I 

•49 

64 

% 

1884 

7>95i,974 

4,873,805 

7,242,878 

I 

•49 

6l 

% 

1885 

8,071,126 

5,106,696 

7,629,118 

I 

•49 

63 

% 

1886 

10,688,972 

6,845,369 

11,153,366 

I 

.63 

64 

% 

1887 

n.859.75 2 

7,611,705 

15,321,116 

2 

.01 

64 

% 

1888 

12,945,350 

8,540,030 

12,445,963 

I 

.46 

66 

% 

1889 

15,960,973 

10,258,022 

16,630,301 

I 

.62 

64 

% 

1890 

18,005,209 

II,508,02I 

23,215,302 

2 

.02 

64 

% 

1891 

16,344,540 

10,352,688 

20,323,216 

I 

•97 

63 

% 

1892 

18,813,337 

12,010,829 

23,536,141 

I 

.96 

64 

% 

1893 

14,917,146 

9,477,580 

16,523,714 

I 

•74 

63. 

5% 

1894 

14,348,750 

9,203,632 

12,328,856 

I 

•34 

64 

% 

1895 

20,848,323 

13,333,714 

19,234,319 

I 

•44 

64 

% 

1896 

18,694,422 

11,788,773 

21,660,729 

I 

■837 

63 

% 

1897 

20,907,319 

13,288,984 

22,102,514 

I 

.663 

63, 

5% 

1898 

25,249,570 

16,047,209 

25,586,699 

I 

•594 

63- 

6 % 

1899 

30,219,343 

19,668,569 

34,670,417 

I 

.76 

65 - 

1% 

1900 

32,113,543 

20,533,348 

47,443,33 1 

2 

•3i 

63. 

9% 

1901 

34,207,965 

21,795,883 

44,445,923 

2 

•039 

63- 

7% 

1902 

39,604,007 

25,401,730 

63,339,167 

2 

•49 

64. 

1% 

1903 

39,423,5251 

25,274,281 

66,498,664 

2 

•63 

64. 

1% 

1904 

36,468,2701 

23,621,520 

46,026,183 

I 

948 ! 

64. 

8% 


23 




























MANUFACTURE OF COKE IN THE CONNELLSVILLE 


REGION (PENNSYLVANIA) 1880-1904. 


Year 

Short Tons 
Coal Used 

Short Tons 
Coke Pro¬ 
duced 

Total Value 
of Coke 
at Ovens 

Value ot 
Coke at Ovens 
Per Ton 

Yield of 
Coal in 
Coke 

1880 

3,367.856 

2,205,946 

$3,948,643 

$1.79 

65-5% 

l88l 

4,018,782 

2,639,002 

4 , 3 oi ,5 73 

1.63 

65 • 7% 

1882 

4,628,736 

3 , 043,394 

4,473,789 

I.47 

65.8% 

1883 

5.355,380 

3 , 552,402 

4,049,738 

I . 14 

66.3% 

1884 

4,829,054 

349 2 , io 5 

3,607,078 

1 • I 3 

66.1% 

1885 

4,683,831 

3,096,012 

3,776,388 

1.22 

66.1% 

1886 

6,305,460 

4,180,521 

5,701,086 

1.36 

66.3% 

1887 

6,182,846 

4,146,989 

7,437,669 

1.79 

67 % 

1888 

7,194,708 

4 , 955,553 

5,884,081 

1.19 

69 % 

1889 

8,832,371 

5,930,428 

7,974,633 

i -34 

67 % 

1890 

9,748,449 

6,464,156 

iE 537 , 37 o 

1.94 

66.3% 

1891 

7,083,705 

4,760,665 

8.903,454 

1.87 

67 % 

1892 

9,389,549 

6,329,452 

11,598,407 

1.83 

67. 4% 

1893 

7,095,491 

4,805,623 

7,141,031 

1.49 

67.7% 

1894 

7,656,169 

5,192,080 

5,405,691 

1.04 

67.8% 

1895 

12 , 174,597 

8,181,179 

10,122,458 

1 - 2 37 

67.2% 

1896 

8.107,536 

5,462,490 

10,018,946 

1.834 

67.4% 

1897 

10,243,690 

6,860,826 

10,662,428 

i -55 

67 % 

1898 

12,454,969 

8,315,350 

12,626,292 

1.518 

66.8% 

1899 

14,974,018 

10,390,335 

I 7 ,° 75 , 4 11 

1.64 

69.4% 

1900 

14,946,659 

10,020,907 

22,383,43 2 

2.23 

67 % 

1901 

15,266,722 

10,235,943 

19,172,697 

1.873 

67 % 

1902 

1 5,538.7011 

10,418,366 

23,785,433! 

2.283 

67.05% 

T 9°3 

13498.859! 

9402,391 

20,707,442! 

2.27 

67.4% 

1904 

13,185,690 

8,883,220 

13 , 990,3291 

1 ■ 575 

67.4% 


In Ancient Brittany. 

The use of coal does not seem to have been known to 
the ancients; nor is it well known at what time it beean 
to be used for fuel. Some say that it was used by the 
ancient Britons; and at all events it was to some extent 
an article of household consumption during the Anglo- 
Saxon period as early as 852 A. D. There seems to be 
reason for thinking that England was the first European 


24 


























country in which coal was used to any considerable ex¬ 
tent. About the end of the thirteenth century it began 
to be employed in London, but at first only in the arts 
and manufactures; and the innovation was complained of 
as injurious to human health. In 1318 Parliament peti¬ 
tioned the King, Edward II., to prohibit the use of coal, 
and a proclamation was accordingly issued against it; but 
owing to the high price of wood, its use soon became gen¬ 
eral in London. It was for a long time known there as 
sea-coal, because imported by sea. 

Pittsburgh. 

We cannot speak of coal without thinking of Pitts¬ 
burg, the city of mills and factories, the center of trade 
and transportation, the greatest manufacturing city in 
the world. The story of Pittsburg reads like a fairy tale. 

About twenty years ago, when the use of natural gas 
was at its height in this district, many of our manufac¬ 
turers and coal men were of the opinion that the mining 
of coal was becoming a lost art, but within a few years 
the large mills were compelled to resume the use of coal, 
and to-day the Pittsburg District produces more coal than 
any State in the Union, or any nation of the world, ex¬ 
cepting Great Britain, Germany, Austria and France, hav¬ 
ing increased its production from 18,000,000 tons in 1897 
to 38,000,000 tons in 1903, or more than 100 per cent in 
six years. Natural gas has come and will go as a fuel 
and be replaced by producer gas made from coal. Oil has 
come and will go as a fuel, only to be replaced by coal. 
Electricity will be used for heating purposes, but the 
power used to make this same electricity, with few ex¬ 
ceptions, will have to be generated from heat produced 
by the use of coal. 

It would be impossible for this country to hold its 
supremacy in manufactures and as a grower of wheat and 
corn if it were not for our large areas of coal. Every 
bushel of wheat and every bushel of corn harvested and 


transported by rail or water calls for the use oi coal in 
one way or another at some stage of transportation. 

In considering Pittsburg’s greatness from a coal 
standpoint, it is necessary to deal with iron ore, which is 
so closely allied with the coal industry. 

Iron Ore a Factor. 

The annual production of iron ore in the United 
States in 1902 had reached 35,500,000 tons, was a half 
million less in 1903, and dropped to 27,650,000 tons in 
1904, but the output this year is expected to be greater 
than for any previous year. 

Of the total production of ore, the Lake Superior 
Region, the most prominent iron-ore district in the world, 
produces three-fourths, the greater portion of which goes 
to shipping ports on Lake Superior and Lake Michigan, 
whence it is transported by vessel to Chicago and Mil¬ 
waukee and to the large receiving docks on Lake Erie, 
and from these docks by rail to the blast furnaces of Penn¬ 
sylvania, Ohio and other States. 

The shipments of iron ore from Lake Erie docks in 
1902 were 23,043,000 tons; in 1903 they had dropped to 
19,682,000, and in 1904 to 17,991,000 tons. It is estimated 
that shipments in 1905 will aggregate 26,250,000 tons. In 
the distribution of this ore from the Lake Erie docks 
Pittsburg District takes more than one-third, her propor¬ 
tion being over 8,000,000 tons in 1902, over 7,000,000 tons 
in 1903, 6,250,000 tons in 1904, while it is estimated that 
it will receive more than 9,000,000 tons out of the total 
shipments of 1905. 


26 


The following figures show the approximate distri¬ 
bution of iron ore in gross tons shipped from Lake Erie 
ports to various furnace districts: 



1902 

1903 

1904 

1905 

Total output. 

27,571,000 

24,282,000 

21,823,000 

*32,000,000 

To Lake Erie ports. 

23,043,000 

19,682,000 

17,991,000 

*26,240,000 

Distributed on fur¬ 
nace capacity: 





Pittsburg District. . 

8,295400 

7 >° 85 > 5 °o 

6,257,800 

9,131,500 

lonongaliela & Slien. Valley 

4,977,300 

4 , 251,300 

3,727,400 

5,431,700 

Ohio River. 

1,659,100 

1,417,100 

1,257,600 

1,836,800 

Cleveland. 

1,497,800 

1,279,300 

1,136,400 

1,653,100 

Lorain . 

1,013,900 

866,000 

757,600 

1,102,100 

Johnstown & S. W. 




Pennsylvania . . . 

1,244,300 

1,062,800 

939,400 

1.364,500 

Canal Dover. 

207,400 

177,200 

151.500 

209,900 

Buffalo, Erie and 





East . 

2,926,500 

2,499,600 

2,839,000 

4,145,900 

Columbus, Ironton, 
Hanging Rock, 





Ashland, etc. 

1,221,300 

1,043,200 

924,300 

1.364,500 

Total . 

23,043,000 

19,682,000 

17,991,000 

1 

26,240,000 


^Estimated. 


Methods of Transportation. 

There are various methods of transporting coal to 
market. It is loaded into railroad cars and forwarded to 
lake ports, where it is transferred to vessels and shipped 
via water to the docks at the head of the lakes. From 
these docks it is again loaded on cars and shipped to the 
interior of the Northwest for domestic, manufacturing 
and locomotive uses. Coal is also loaded into barges and 
fiat boats at the river tipples on the Monongahela river 
and transported at a cost of, say, five cents per ton to the 
different mills in the Pittsburg District. It is then un¬ 
loaded by means of mechanical devices to railroad cars 
and elevators for distribution to the different parts of the 
mills, at a cost of one and one-half to five cents per ton, 
depending upon the tonnage. The cheapness of the 


27 



























transportation of this coal accounts in a great, measure 
for the location of mills and manufactories along the river 
banks. For shipment to Southern points coal is loaded 
on barges carrying about 600 tons, or on coal boats hav¬ 
ing a capacity of 1,000 to 1,200 tons, which are towed by 
small steamers and delivered at the Pittsburg landings. 
Tows are then made up for shipment to Cincinnati, Louis¬ 
ville, St. Louis and New Orleans, such tows between 
Pittsburg and Cincinnati carrying from 10,000 to 20,000 
tons of coal. Part of this coal is unloaded at Cincinnati 
and there used for domestic purposes as well as for mak¬ 
ing gas, and part is loaded on cars and shipped to In¬ 
diana, Illinois and other Western States. This is also 
true of Louisville and other Southern points. 

Our Great Waterways. 

The coal for shipment below Louisville is delivered at 
the landings at this city, taken through the canal on the 
Ohio river and made up into larger tows and carried down 
to St. Louis, Memphis and New Orleans, some of these 
tows from that city containing as much as 50,000 tons. 
The largest inland steamers in the United States 
are operated in this transportation of coal on the Ohio 
and Mississippi rivers. 

Coal delivered at New Orleans for coast trade and 
intermediate points is mostly transported by boats con¬ 
taining from 1,000 to 1,200 tons, and is handled by negroes 
with wheelbarrows, who wheel the coal from the boats to 
top of levee, and deliver same where it is needed by plant¬ 
ers for the refining of sugar and other purposes. A large 
amount of this coal is also used at New Orleans for fuel¬ 
ing vessels and for domestic trade. 

I he tremendous importance to the Pennsylvania coal 
interests of having water transportation to New Orleans, 
a distance of about 2,000 miles, is apparent from the fact 
that the cost of moving this coal from Pittsburg to New 


28 


Orleans and returning the empty boats, is only $1.35 per 
ton, or six-tenths of one mill per ton per mile, whereas the 
cost of rail movement of coal from the Pittsburg District 
is from 6 to 7 mills per ton per mile. 

This economy of transportation alone has made possi¬ 
ble and fostered and protected the wide market for Penn¬ 
sylvania coal along the Ohio and Mississippi rivers and of 
the Gulf ports. 

An Example of Unprecedented Growth. 

Less than half a century ago, and within the recol¬ 
lection of some of the gentlemen present, a small iron mill 
was located on the banks of the Monongahela river. A 
coal opening was made about two miles back in the coun¬ 
try and coal handled by horses and wagons to supply the 
mill. 

Thirty years later the plant had increased to such an 
extent as to require an average supply of 700 tons of metal 
daily to meet its consumption, and it was the topic of dis¬ 
cussion throughout the country, and the dangers of such 
unheard-of production were commented upon. Even the 
owners of the plant had realized their wildest dreams and 
believed they had reached their maximum output. 

What do we see to-day? An enormous manufactur¬ 
ing establishment, with blast furnaces producing 4,000 
tons of iron every 24 hours and steel mills and finishing 
mills using every ton of this immense output, and 
sending their bars and shapes to every important city in 
the country. Pforses and wagons for hauling coal have 
long ago been replaced by a line of powerful steamers 
towing barges of coal from the mines to the mills and 
elevators unload and deliver it at the power and heating 
plants and coke ovens. And it is absolutely necessary to 
have such transportation and such unloading facilities to 
handle the 9,000 tons of coal used per day at these great 
works. And this is only the beginning, for this company 
is now constructing the largest mill in the world and ex- 


29 


pects and intends to increase its capacity fully 50 per 
cent within another year, and with this development of 
production their requirements of coal will reach the stu¬ 
pendous amount of 12,000 to 13,000 tons per day or 
3,500,000 to 4,000,000 tons of coal a year, which is more 
than was mined in the entire United States in 1852, at the 
time this firm began business. 

And this is only one of a single branch of the many 
varieties of manufacturing establishments which are ever 
increasing in size and capacity and in their consumption 
of coal. 


The Balance of Trade. 

As this audience consists so largely of editors and 
newspaper writers, it is not necessary for me to state to 
you the conditions as to our present business and financial 
relations with our cousins across the seas. Statistics 
which have been compiled and published from time to 
time show conclusively that our exportations of grain and 
manufactured products during several years past have 
largely exceeded our imports from other countries, and 
yet, in spite of this balance of trade in our favor and the 
aparent necessity on the part of foreign countries to pay 
for this excess of exports, money has not only NOT been 
coming to the United States, but has actually been going 
in the opposite direction. True, within short periods oc¬ 
casional small consignments of gold have been made from 
Europe to New York, but it is to create and maintain 
temporarily an easy money market for the movement of 
our bounteous crops, or for speculative purposes. 

The proceeds realized from our excess of exports and 
the gold which has been shipped to Europe during the 
past ten years have been used in buying back our railroad 
stocks and bonds, as well as those of our industrial cor¬ 
porations. The foreign holdings of these securities are 
now practically exhausted, and money must soon begin 
to come to us in payment of our trade balances, and the 


30 


gold of all nations will be drawn to this country and used 
in the building of more railroads and more industries, con¬ 
tinuing and ever increasing our present prosperity, and 
making and maintaining this the greatest nation, com¬ 
mercially and financially, in the world’s history. 

Foreign Ownership of Railroads. 

The following table shows the changes in ownership 
of the stocks of certain railroads during the past ten 
years: 

Per cent owned abroad 
1895 1905 


Baltimore & Ohio. 21 17 

Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul. ... 21 6 

Great Northern. 33 2 

Illinois Central. 65 21 

Louisville & Nashville. 75 7 

New York Central. 37 9 

New York, Ontario & Western. ... 58 12 

Pennsylvania. 52 19 

Reading. 52 3 


A Glorious Country. 

The United States is already the greatest country in 
the world. The value of our manufactured products is 
over $13,000,000,000 a year, and of our farm products 
over $3,750,000,000 per year. Our farm property is 
valued at over $20,000,000,000, and our people have on de¬ 
posit in savings banks over $3,000,000,000. The United 
States has over 200,000 miles of railroads, and is fast fill¬ 
ing up the country with steam and electric car lines. Our 
annual export's already total over $1,500,000,000, and 
when our interior waterways are completed and we are 
exporting coal along with our farm and manufactured 
products in our own merchant marine, nothing can stop 
our progress as the leader of all countries in the world in 
business prestige and financial importance . 


31 









The Future in My Mind’s Eye. 

Reverting again to the subject of coal and the City 
of Pittsburgh. When I consider the vast growth of the 
coal, iron and steel industries during the last twenty-five 
years and contemplate the growth of the next twenty- 
five, I can see in my mind’s eye a greater Pittsburgh, ex¬ 
tending far beyond the borders of to-day's assigned limits, 
with vastly improved transportation facilities, a great net 
work of railroads stretching out in every direction, like 
the spokes of a wheel. I can see the improvement of the 
iMonongahela, Allegheny and Ohio rivers to the State 
line ,and the margins of these rivers and railroads lined 
with a thousand factories, employing hundreds of thou¬ 
sands of happy workmen, a prosperous coal-consuming 
territory, with the present Pittsburgh as its center, or 
hub. I can see the Ohio river with a nine-foot stage of 
water from Pittsburgh one thousand miles to Cairo, con¬ 
necting with the great Mississippi and continuing south¬ 
west to tidewater at the Gulf of Mexico. I can see the 
new waterway—the Lake Erie and Ohio River Ship 
Canal—stretching to the north, connecting this great val¬ 
ley with the lakes and with tidewater through the Cana¬ 
dian canal and St. Lawrence river, and also through the 
Erie and Hudson River canal, with tidewater at New 
York; these improvements making of Pittsburgh the 
greatest inland port of the world. 

LTnequaled transportation facilities. 

Undreamed-of prosperity. 

And what will be the means of bringing all this 
about? OLD KING COAL. For Coal is King' Iron is 
Queen ! And Pittsburgh the industrial throne. 



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